Yvette Kendall - Beyond Invention: Page 4/5﻿

WJD: So do you think that selling yourself is one of your stumbling blocks in being an entrepreneur?﻿YK:﻿ My personality… I’m very impatient. When someone says they’re going to do something for you and you’re waiting on them to do it and when they call you and they’re talking about everything but what they’re supposed to be telling you… I get very irritated. I’m like; let’s take of business and then do the fluff stuff later. People like fluff… You have to learn how to woo people and massage them and I just don’t have time for that. So that has been part of the downfall in my work. That I don’t have that part of the business aspect down at all.

WJD: As far as the industry, as it relates to F.B.I. Rocks, what mistakes are you trying to prevent others from making?﻿YK:﻿ There is only one mistake that I’ve made that I find it hard not to make. And that is trusting people. It is very hard. Trusting people, believing people at their word and assuming that they will be people of their word. Everyone, altruistically, wants you to feel that they’re trustworthy. So what they do is put that energy out there. If I hear this one more time, “I’m a man of my word,” that’s the red flag! When they have to say it that means they’re not going to do it. I have not, at this point in time, heard someone say that and not turn on that the next day. And it’s hard because you’re going to have to trust somebody. I have to tell the F.B.I. rocks crew, be selective and hold people to their word and that way you won’t waste time. So if someone says, ‘Hey, I’ll get with you tomorrow at five,” and you don’t hear from them by six, then you let them know you’re not going to do business with them anymore. So you’ll know by the next day if you’re going to move forward with them or not. This is business and this is life. Things happen. If something happens, I expect a phone call… no one wants to be held accountable, but when the paychecks start coming in, everyone is standing there with their hands out.

WJD: I started out Hustling on the streets. When I moved over to what people would call the “real” side of business, I found that the higher up you go, the worst these people are. On the streets you have codes; all you have is your reputation. But at the upper levels these people don’t care about their reputation, they don’t care what you think about them. The consequences aren’t as severe. ﻿YK:﻿ You know what I found? People always tell you, “Don’t burn bridges,” and when they say that what they’re really saying is, “Don’t burn my bridge,” but they don’t think anything about your bridge. WJD: That’s a very profound statement. How do you balance being a mother, an inventor, an entrepreneur and also being an inspiration to young black girls and black women everywhere?﻿YK:﻿ It’s a balance. It is what it is – it’s a cog in the wheel. You’re balancing more than that. You’re balancing being human, you’re balancing being spiritual, you’re balancing being a woman, a mother, a friend, an innovator and you have to share whatever it is you’re balancing with people that are trying to follow in your footsteps, or be in your footsteps. It’s a juggling act; it’s a dance with no steps. And people ask me why did I choose to be an inventor and I tell them, “I’m following in my Father’s footsteps,” and people that know God know what I mean. He invented the World, He invented water, He invented air, all of this is a thought of His that He put into motion. So I’m not doing anything that’s not in my DNA to do.